Minnetonka boys' hockey: Learning all along the way

Call it learning experience No. 2.

About 40 hours before Minnetonka's boys' hockey team faced off against Hopkins in the Skippers' Classic Lake Conference opener, first-year head coach Brian Urick broke down the other four teams in the league.

"Edina is by far the most talented and has the most depth," he said. "And Wayzata is dangerous. They don't have the record, but they've had a very tough schedule.

"Armstrong can get you. And look at Hopkins. Everyone says we're a surprise, but look at what Hopkins has done."

Minnetonka got an up-close-and-personal look Saturday, losing 4-3 and falling to 11-2 this season. The Royals, meanwhile, stayed undefeated.

"They buried their chances, and we didn't bury ours," Urick said, noting the Skippers' 49 shots on goal to Hopkins' 32. "The effort was there for us. [But] Hopkins has a lot of good players and a lot of speed. They kept up with us. They are for real."

Before that game, the Skippers' first lesson this season was one of unity.

After watching Minnetonka defeat Duluth East for the first time in program history, Urick returned to the Skippers locker room to find scattered sticks and frowning faces.

Urick and his staff had shortened the bench during the game, resulting in some players not getting as many chances to score as they had liked.

"We kind of laid into them a little bit," Urick said. "Probably the most we have all year. We beat a top team in the state for the first time in school history, and you're worried about goals and assists? You're never going to go anywhere as a team if it's all individuals."

The mood since has changed.

Team points numbers are no longer posted in the locker room. Instead, it's the players' plus/minus ratings.

"Once you win a couple of games right at the start it kind of becomes, 'Well, I might as well get some points,'" junior forward Sam Coatta said. "But when you go out and press because you're thinking, 'Hey, I need two goals,' you're pressing for the wrong reason.

"Coach had a talk with us, and we realized it doesn't matter as long as we're winning. If you keep the mindset of doing what you can to help the team win, you'll win."

The Skippers are a balanced team with forwards who backcheck and defensemen with a nose for the net.

Senior defender Jake Gardiner leads the team with 24 points. He is one of six Skippers players with double-digit point numbers this season. Another two have nine points.

Behind the blue line, Minnetonka has allowed just 22 goals.

This from a team that lost its coach a month after last season ended and 35 percent of its scoring with the graduation of Jack Paul and John Twaddle.

"I didn't know for sure if we'd come out to a start like this," senior Erik Hansen said. "We were just hoping to play well. A lot of what we've done has been because of leadership. And it's not just from the guys with letters on their sweaters."

As the team forges ahead, including a game Thursday night against section foe Eden Prairie, Minnetonka plans to continue to use the formula that propelled it to this point: teamwork.

"Sometimes you need to break the kids down from cocky to confident," Urick said. "And I think we're doing all right."